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just a bit of trivia
did you know the color of the Spanish moss tells you what the air quality is in the area, the greener it is the cleaner the air

Whoa I just read this, where on earth did you hear that? It is not true, the gray color of Spanish moss comes from the scales on their leaves; they are needed for the plant to absorb water and nutrients from the air. They appear greener when wet but that's about it. Now they ARE rather sensitive to chemicals in the air and excessive pollution can kill them more easily than most plants, but it won't make the plants appear "dirtier"

If I wanted tropical plants I would build a modern home with a set of skylights and an indoor garden. You get the best of both worlds-temperate and tropical. I have seen this in an office building somewhere in Dayton Ohio. An indoor atrium in a 50's office park had banana trees, palms and philodendron growing down the center. I am sure this exists in many places to this day.

I live in Northeast Tennessee right on the VA state line and thirty years ago you couldn't grow Pampas Grass here due to the cold winters. Now folks have huge clumps of it in their yards. I've been growing the hardy banana Musa basjoo for almost twenty years here and it will develop pseudotrunks over 10' tall with 8' leaves quite readily. One person here in my city brought a 20' sabal palmetto and planted in their yard with several windmill palms about four years ago. They somehow manage to get a blanket over the crown of the palmetto during the coldest weather and all of them have managed to flourish over the years. I would've bet money that the palmetto wouldn't have survived the first year but it did here in USDA Zone 6 in the mountains. Their windmill palms are now almost six feet tall and quite beautiful. I need to takes some pics of them...

Whoa I just read this, where on earth did you hear that? It is not true, the gray color of Spanish moss comes from the scales on their leaves; they are needed for the plant to absorb water and nutrients from the air. They appear greener when wet but that's about it. Now they ARE rather sensitive to chemicals in the air and excessive pollution can kill them more easily than most plants, but it won't make the plants appear "dirtier"

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